The 2026 Tour de France Route Explained: Locations, Distance & More
Where will the world's most famous cycling race take riders this year? Let's take a look.
Key Takeaways
- The 2026 Tour de France begins July 4 in Barcelona, marking one of the rare occasions the Grand Départ starts outside France, before riders travel through the Pyrenees, Alps, and finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
- The route features 21 stages with a mix of eight mountain stages, seven flat stages, four hilly stages, and two time trials, highlighting the race’s varied and demanding terrain.
- The course introduces 10 new towns to the Tour route and includes major cycling landmarks such as Bordeaux, Alpe d’Huez, and multiple Alpine climbs.
It's almost time for the 2026 Tour de France. The world's most famous cycling race returns to NBC and Peacock beginning July 4, and continuing for the next three weeks, as the best riders on the planet traverse hills and mountains, streets and alpine roads, in the quest for Yellow Jersey glory.
The Tour de France has a reputation as one of the most challenging cycling events in the world, and a big part of the challenge is its unpredictability. Though there are certain key features each Tour's route includes -- like rides through the Pyrenees and the French Alps -- each year's route varies in its exact details. No two Tour routes are alike, so before the race kicks off, let's take a closer at where riders will head in 2026.
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The route of the 2026 Tour de France
The 2026 edition of the Tour will actually begin in Spain, with the race's Grand Depart and First Stage unfolding in Barcelona. This is just the third time the race's first Stage has begun in Spain, and just the 27th time the Grand Depart has taken place in a country other than France. From there, riders will cross the Pyrenees, snake up France's southwestern coast, then gradually move northeast toward France's border with Germany. The route then moves south toward the Alps before heading to Northern France for the 21st and final stage, which will finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The route includes eight mountain stages, seven flat stages, four hilly stages, and two time trials, and will feature 10 towns which have never appeared on the route before.
Complete 2026 Tour de France route and stages
If you want to see the entire 2026 route visualized, you can check out the official map at the Tour de France website. If you just want to know the starting and finishing points for each stage, here's how it's all set up.
- Stage 1 - July 4 - Barcelona to Barcelona (19.6 km)
- Stage 2 - July 5 - Tarragona to Barcelona (168.5 km)
- Stage 3 - July 6 - Granollers to Les Angles (195.9 km)
- Stage 4 - July 7 - Carcassonne to Foix (181.9 km)
- Stage 5 - July 8 - Lannemezan to Pau (158.3 km)
- Stage 6 - July 9 - Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre (186.2 km)
- Stage 7 - July 10 - Hagetmau to Bordeaux (175.1 km)
- Stage 8 - July 11 - Perigueux to Bergerac (180.4 km)
- Stage 9 - July 12 - Malemort to Ussel (185.5 km)
- Stage 10 - July 14 - Aurillac to Le Lioran (166.6 km)
- Stage 11 - July 15 - Vichy to Nevers (161.3 km)
- Stage 12 - July 16 - Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-Sur-Saone (179.1 km)
- Stage 13 - July 17 - Dole to Belfort (205.8 km)
- Stage 14 - July 18 - Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering (155.3 km)
- Stage 15 - July 19 - Champangole to Plateau de Solaison (183.9 km)
- Stage 16 - July 21 - Evian-Les-Bains to Tholon-Les-Bains (26.1 km)
- Stage 17 - July 22 - Chambery to Voiron (174.7 km)
- Stage 18 - July 23 - Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette (185.2 km)
- Stage 19 - July 24 - Gap to Alpe D'Huez (127.9 km)
- Stage 20 - July 25 - Le Bourg D'Oisans to Alpe D'Huez (170.9 km)
- Stage 21 - July 26 - Thoiry to Paris (133 km)
Watch every stage of the Tour de France this July, live on Peacock.
